Pierce Hawthorne is the study group’s stereotypical older person that is an accidental bigot. There doesn’t seem to be any malice behind the terrible things that Pierce says, and often seems to not realize he’s done something wrong when he’s called out on it. As you can expect, it comes as a shock to everyone when it’s discovered that his family owned wet wipe company is a staple in the gay community. Hawthorne Wipes are actually so popular that fictional transgender performer Urbana Champaign recorded a hit song called “Pocket Full of Hawthornes.”
After watching the music video for the song, Pierce is upset and declares that he is going to try to drive away his gay customers... at least till he finds out how much of his market they make up. Soon he starts work on a new product specifically branded for gay men and decides to announce it at a party he unwittingly calls a “Gay Bash.” Soon Pierce is taken in by the admiration of his new customer base and begins to accept the company’s place in their culture, at least till his mean-spirited father shows up.
